CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Wofford volleyball team used a resilient effort in the third set to spark a comeback effort at the Ramsey Center on Friday evening, stunning Western Carolina (10-14, 6-7 SoCon) in five sets, 20-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-6, to pick up its second road win of the season and move to 8-5 in the Southern Conference and 14-11 overall. Freshman middle blocker Sarah MacLean led all three Terriers in double figures for the match, recording a career-best and team-high 15 kills along with three blocks to lead Wofford on the evening.
 
Wofford swept the season series over the Catamounts for the first time since 2016, as the Terriers improve their away record to 2-7 entering their final three road matches of the regular season.
 
MacLean hit .414 with just three errors on 29 swings, marking the Simpsonville, S.C., native's third-straight match hitting above .400, along with dishing an assist on the night.
 
Sophomore Sarah Barham added a solid 10 kills to pair with a team-high five blocks and an ace, followed by junior Bella Zeman with a season-high 13 kills on .440 hitting, a block and two digs. Sophomore setter Emily Hodsdon amassed her sixth 50-assist match of the season with a match-high 54 assists, along with recording nine digs, an ace, kill and three blocks.
 
Freshman outside hitter Mary Emily Morgan contributed nine kills and a career-high 15 digs defensively, in addition to a block, while senior Kelly Hubbard registered season-highs with seven kills, on 15 swings (.333), and three blocks.
 
Junior Kennedy Smith added three kills, two aces and 17 digs, while Emory Wyatt finished with four kills. Sophomore Abbey Richman contributed 12 digs and two assists, as Chasidy Sharpe and Addison Foote added two and one aces, respectively.
 
The Terriers finished the match hitting .207, besting the Catamounts in kills (62-57) and digs (90-81) – marking a team season-high for digs in a five-set match.
 
Wofford was superb on serve and at the net, recording 11 aces, highlighted by a career-best three from sophomore Abbey Richman, and 10 blocks to WCU's six for the evening.
 
Western Carolina opened the match hitting in rhythm prior to the Terriers' momentum and defensive composure setting in, allowing the Catamounts to finish the match hitting just .198.
 
After holding off a sweep with a 25-23 third-set decision, the Terriers began to swing the match in their favor behind a Kennedy Smith 3-0 run, on a kill and consecutive aces, that boosted a 15-12 lead at the media timeout in the fourth set. The Catamounts closed within one (17-16), though, Wofford extended the cushion to 22-19 before a Hubbard kill and WCU error burned their final timeout at set-point, 24-19. WCU grabbed a pair of points before Hubbard would swing home a crucial kill to knot the match up at 2-2 with a 25-19 fourth-set victory.
 
The fifth set would prove to be all Wofford, jumping out to a 7-4 advantage behind back-to-back Chasidy Sharpe aces. Coming out of a Catamounts timeout, a pair of WCU errors along with Mary Emily Morgan kills and a Morgan / Sarah MacLean combination block plagued the Catamounts into calling their final timeout, trailing 11-5. Abbey Richman then paced the Terriers on serve, landing an ace in the midst of a pair of WCU errors, as MacLean would go on to seal the deal on match-point to secure the comeback victory at 15-6.
 
The Catamounts were led by Merry Gebel with a double-double of 17 kills and 13 digs, followed Haley Multerer (14 kills), Makenzie White (11) and Bailey Hartsough (11).
 
Wofford (14-11, 8-5 SoCon) travels to Greensboro, N.C., for the second of its four-match road swing to face UNCG for a 5 p.m. match on Saturday, Nov. 6.